


The Princess...and the Pea

by darriness



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 05:56:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15835146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darriness/pseuds/darriness
Summary: Kurt and Blaine's child and Rachel and Jesse's child cannot stand each other. It's ... awkward





	The Princess...and the Pea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nadiacreek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadiacreek/gifts).



> Written for nadiacreek for the Klaine Fic Exchange! The summary is the prompt! Thanks to my betas mypatronusismalec and darrenismydarcy! Enjoy and I hope I don't screw up posting this! lol
> 
> Side note: Written in the same verse as my Fic A Day 2018 (I will also be posting this fic for that too!) so if you like this you can always read that too if you want! :)

The day Elizabeth (Lizzy) May Anderson-Hummel is born is the best day of their lives to date. ‘Their’ is in reference to not only Kurt and Blaine and their entire extended families (Burt Hummel weeps openly holding his granddaughter for the first time), but also Rachel and Jesse. 

There’s no question the pair will don the monikers “Aunt” Rachel and “Uncle” Jesse as they’ve become like true brother and sister to Blaine and Kurt over the years. So while not only is Lizzy the first child born into their group of friends, Rachel and Jesse feel more connected to her than, say, if Artie and Tina were to have a child. They’ve never said as much openly but…being Jesse and Rachel? It’s been heavily implied.

Lizzy is spoiled from the start. Kurt and Blaine try to keep the spoiling to a minimum, because as Kurt tries to remind everyone “Spoiled children are nasty as children and even nastier as adults”, but even they can’t help but dote on their little girl.

The foursome’s monthly games nights turn into “Lizzy nights” where Jesse and Rachel come earlier than they used to and the four spend hours just playing with Lizzy before her bedtime. 

Rachel and Jesse are there for a lot of Lizzy’s milestones. They’re there when she eats solids for the first time, when she takes her first steps,, and Kurt is on the phone with Rachel when Lizzy utters her first word. 

By the time Lizzy is three, she’s as comfortable at Rachel and Jesse’s house as she is at home, and even starts to have sleepovers with the pair. 

“These sleepovers will help prepare you two for parenthood.” Blaine jokes when the sleepovers start. 

The joke makes them all laugh but none of them know how true Blaine’s statement is until four months later when Rachel announces that she’s pregnant.

Everyone is obviously thrilled with the news, even Lizzy who doesn’t completely understand what it means.

“Where’s the baby?” She asks, looking Rachel up and down as if expecting a baby to magically appear from behind her back.

Rachel smiles, “It’s in my tummy.” She explains, patting her still flat stomach.

The explanation seems to confuse Lizzy even more. But when Kurt and Blaine explain it will be like her baby dolls, she’s sold. 

It becomes a little more clear to her as Rachel’s stomach grows and she spends a great amount of time with her ear to Rachel’s stomach, trying to ‘hear the baby’ as she puts it.

“Hey baby girl,” Kurt says, one night, as they are tucking Lizzy into bed, “Daddy and I have something to tell you.”

Lizzy sits nestled in her pink pillows and blankets and smiles up at her fathers sweetly, “What’s up?” She says, making Kurt and Blaine laugh.

“Well you know how Aunt Rachel is going to have a baby?” Blaine starts and Lizzy nods, “Well, how would you like it if…we had a baby join OUR family?”

Lizzy is quiet for a moment, looking back and forth between them, and Kurt and Blaine wonder if she really understands what Blaine said, “Do you understand, love?” Kurt asks, running a hand through her dark curls.

Lizzy nods, but she’s still looking back and forth between her fathers, “You can ask us any questions you like.” Blaine assures and that’s all it seems to take for Lizzy to voice her confusion.

“Do you have the baby in your tummy, Daddy? Or does Papa?” She asks, innocently.

Kurt and Blaine smile. They’ve got some more explaining to do.

— — —

Lizzy’s four years and four months when Nash Barbra St. James is born (“Barbra? You’re going to saddle the kid with Barbra?” Kurt says as he cradles the new bundle to his chest. 

“Says Kurt ELIZABETH Hummel.” Rachel emphasizes. 

Kurt turns up his nose and says haughtily, “It takes a fabulous person to pull off such a middle name.” He says. 

“And my son is going to be fabulous.” Rachel defends.).

And fabulous he is. Nash is an incredibly happy baby who, from earlier than anyone thinks he should, has a smile for everyone. He has anyone he meets wrapped around his chubby little finger, and that includes Kurt and Blaine.

Who that DOESN’T include…is Lizzy.

“Come on, Lizzy Bear! We’re going to see baby Nash!” Blaine calls up the stairs.

“No, thank you!” Lizzy calls from her bedroom.

Kurt and Blaine turn and look at each other at the bottom of the stairs with furrowed eyebrows, “It's time to go, Lizzy!” Kurt tries, shrugging at Blaine.

“I’m gonna stay and play with my dolls.” Lizzy calls, simply.

“What is her deal?” Blaine asks.

Kurt shrugs, “I guess we’ll have to go upstairs and find out.”

Blaine pouts, “I wanted to AVOID going upstairs. Isn’t the point of her being four that she can come to US instead of the other way around?”

Kurt laughs, laying a hand on Blaine’s shoulder and propelling him up the stairs, “Come on, old man. It’ll give you practice for when we’ve got a newborn in the house.”

Lizzy’s cagey about her reasons for wanting to stay home and doesn’t seem to quite understand that regardless of her reasons, a four-year-old cannot stay home alone. Eventually they get her out the door (not without a few ‘Elizabeth May’s being thrown around) and over to Rachel and Jesse’s, assuming she’ll perk up when she’s there.

She doesn’t.

“He smells.” She says sullenly, standing next to the couch where Blaine cuddles Nash to his chest.

Blaine chuckles, “He smells like baby powder and amazingness.” He argues.

“He looks like a booger.” Lizzy mumbles.

Kurt and Blaine make eye contact over Lizzy’s head and Kurt, who is sitting next to Rachel, turns to look at her. Rachel’s face is a mixture of shock and confusion and she also looks like she’s about to cry but that could be pregnancy hormones still wreaking havoc.

An awkward silence ensues. No one really knows how to deal with this tension and Kurt and Blaine aren’t entirely sure how to approach their daughter’s attitude.

Luckily for all of them, Jesse comes to the rescue, intentionally or not, “I mean...he does kind of look like a booger.”

“Jesse St. James!” Rachel shrieks, indignantly, but everyone else in the room is too busy laughing, including Lizzy, the tension broken for the time being.

\-- -- --

It turns out that the tension between Lizzy and Nash is apparently not one-sided. He may only be a few weeks old, but when they finally get Lizzy to agree to hold him for some pictures (for which she refuses to smile), Nash wails like his arm is being ripped off.

“He’s never made that sound before!” Rachel says, alarmed, picking Nash back up and pressing him to her chest. Within minutes Nash is calm again, cooing up at his mother.

“What if she’s like this with her own brother?” Blaine whispers on the way home. All the adults assumed Lizzy would eventually warm up to Nash as the night wore on. They were sorely mistaken.

Kurt glances in the the rearview mirror at a sleeping Lizzy and sighs, “We’re just going to have to sit down and talk with her about it. She’ll come around to Nash and she’ll love her baby brother.”

“Well she doesn’t really have a choice when it comes to either of those. It’s just whether or not we’re going to have to keep fighting with her about it.” Blaine sighs, resignedly.

Lizzy’s kicking her feet absently at the breakfast table the next morning, eating her cereal, when Kurt and Blaine sit down with their coffees on either side of her. They look at each other and then down at Lizzy, who seems oblivious to her fathers’ attention; she’s now bopping her head to music only she can hear.

“Lizzy?” Blaine asks and Lizzy looks up with her spoon still in her mouth, “Papa and I wanted to talk to you about Nash.” He starts.

Lizzy sighs as she puts her spoon back into her bowl and she seems older than her four years, “I don’t like Nash.” She says.

Kurt nods, “Can you tell us why?” He asks.

Lizzy shrugs, “He’s not like my dolls at all. You said it was going to be like my baby dolls but he’s not like that at all.”

Blaine sighs, “Well I’m sorry but that’s not really a reason to not like him. I think if you tried, you’d find that you actually really like Nash. He’s awfully cute.” Lizzy doesn’t seem convinced.

“At the end of the day, love, Nash is going to be in our lives for a very long time.” Kurt says gently, “So we need to be nice to him and treat him kindly. Okay?”

Lizzy sighs again and uses her spoon to move her cereal around her bowl absently, “Okay.” She says, softly.

Kurt and Blaine nod at each other, pleased.

\-- -- --

As is often the case when children agree to something, especially when it comes to their behaviour, they renege on it almost as quickly as they agreed to it.

Over the coming weeks and months, Lizzy continues to have difficulties with her pseudo-cousin. She refuses to interact with him unless forced, she hides his toys, goes selectively deaf when someone asks her to help with him, and is generally sullen in his company.

Lizzy and Nash’s tense relationship causes a strain in Kurt, Blaine, Jesse, and Rachel’s relationship. They spend more time discussing their children’s relationship than anything else. Their game nights turn into strategy sessions for how to get their kids to get along. 

They are continually baffled by the evident hatred from Lizzy and the perceived hatred from Nash (who continues to be unsettled and whiny in Lizzy’s presence despite being a generally positive baby boy). 

“Hey! It’s almost baby time!” Rachel enthuses the day before the due date of Kurt and Blaine’s son, walking into their house (that she inexplicably has a key for even though neither Kurt or Blaine ever officially gave her one) with Nash’s carrier hooked in her arm.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Kurt grumbles.

Rachel’s smile crumbles into confusion as Blaine rolls his eyes and goes to take Nash out of his carrier. He settles Nash into his arm and bounces him slightly while tickling his tummy just to hear him giggle, “Kurt is stressing because he thinks Lizzy is going to hate her baby brother.” He explains.

“Well all evidence is pointing to the fact that she’s not a big fan of babies in the family.” Kurt argues, gesturing toward Nash, “Imagine what she’s going to do when there is a baby LIVING here.”

“She’ll be fine, Kurt.” Rachel soothes.

“That’s what I keep telling him.” Blaine says, kissing the four-month-old on the head before inhaling deeply, “Oh man I am SO excited to have another baby in the house. Why do babies always smell so good?” It’s a rhetorical question but no one is listening to him anyway.

“While I would love for Lizzy to like Nash more...” Rachel starts.

“Or at all.” Kurt interjects.

“...or at all, you can’t compare her feelings toward a baby that she sees once or twice a week, that isn’t related to her, to her baby brother.” Rachel finishes.

And while neither Kurt or Blaine will admit to Rachel being right, Lizzy absolutely adores her brother when Matthew (Matty) Devon Anderson-Hummel is born later that week. She refuses to let go of his hand when she visits him in the hospital, asks to hold him at every available opportunity, and even OFFERS to help care for him (though she does draw the line at dirty diapers).

Kurt, Blaine, Rachel, and Jesse all heave a giant sigh of relief at her reaction, assuming it means she will also begin to like Nash...

...well it’s not a HORRIBLE assumption…

“What are you doing, baby girl?” Kurt asks, one evening, two weeks after Matty is born, as they get ready to host Rachel, Jesse, and Nash for dinner. He finds Lizzy in the dining room setting out a plate in addition to the five Blaine had set out earlier. 

“I’m putting a plate on the table for Matty.” Lizzy explains, simply.

Kurt smiles, “That’s sweet. You do know he’s too little to eat at the table though, right?” He says, gently.

Lizzy gives him what Kurt and Blaine have come to call her ‘bitch please’ look (that usually has them laughing when they probably should be telling her not to do it) and says, “I know that but he should still have a plate. He would feel sad without one.”

Kurt nods, “Fair point. What about Nash? Are you going to put out a plate for him too?”

Lizzy shakes her head, “No.” She says sweetly, “He can sit in the kitchen.”

Kurt’s eyes widen, “Lizzy, that’s not very nice.”

“Our table isn’t that big.” Lizzy says, matter-of-factly, before leaving the room.

Kurt watches her leave with an open mouth and confused eyes. He stands in shocked imbolility for a few moments before making his way to the kitchen to find Blaine.

Blaine’s taking the wine for the evening out of the fridge, Matty cradled in his arm, when Kurt comes in and lays his forehead on Blaine’s shoulder with an exaggerated groan, “Our daughter’s a bitch.” He says, sadly, bringing a hand up to stroke Matty’s curled up fist.

Blaine lets out a shocked huff of laughter, “Ummm wow. Explain please.” He says.

Kurt sighs and recounts his interaction with Lizzy. Blaine pouts his lips thoughtfully, “She’ll get over it.” Blaine says and whether he’s trying to reassure Kurt or himself he doesn’t know, “Maybe…” He muses as something occurs to him for the first time, “Maybe we’re looking at this the wrong way. What if Lizzy is having difficulty with Nash because he...took her spot?”

Kurt lifts his head up and furrows his brow at Blaine, “What do you mean?”

Blaine shrugs as much as he can with Matty in his arms, “Before Nash came along, Lizzy was not only our whole world, but Rachel and Jesse’s too. She had everyone’s full attention. But when Nash came along she had to share it.”

“Nash dethroned her.” Kurt says in awed realization.

“In her eyes, yeah. So her anger at being “dethroned” is directed at Nash as opposed to Matty.” Blaine finishes explaining.

“You’re so smart.” Kurt breathes, leaning down to kiss Blaine’s shoulder before resting his lips there.

Blaine chuckles, “I try.” He says, “Now comes figuring out how to help her get over it.”  
Kurt moves to put his chin on Blaine’s shoulder, “And just like parenting, I’m sure that will be a breeze of an experience.” He says before kissing Blaine’s cheek as the other man laughs.

\-- -- --

Nash is almost three by the time he and Lizzy start to come around to each other. Leading up to that time, a highlight of their “burgeoning” relationship is Lizzy intentionally trying to trip Nash as he’s learning to walk.

“Good job, Nash!” Jesse exclaims holding Nash’s hand as the thirteen-month-old toddles his way around Kurt and Blaine’s living room. The little boy has been getting stronger and stronger each day with his walking and it’s probably only a matter of time before he’s walking completely on his own.

Lizzy’s sitting on the edge of the couch, digging her toes into the carpet, as she follows the pair with her eyes. When Nash gets close, she lets her toes slide against the carpet until they are blocking Nash’s legs, causing the little boy to stumble and then fall.

Jesse, whose head had been turned to answer something Kurt had asked, turns back when he feels the tug on his arm to watch Nash fall over Lizzy’s feet, “Lizzy!” Blaine scolds.

Another highlight includes Nash spitting food into Lizzy’s hair, which unfortunately happens more than once.

It’s his second birthday party when it happens for the first time. He’s hopped up on sugar and excitement and he’s been running around the house like a wild man for most of the day. Everyone at the party just laughs at his antics so he keeps them up.

He’s standing at the coffee table eating chips from a bowl and Lizzy is sitting on the floor next to the couch (with a scowl on her face because she has no interest in being at this birthday party). Without ceremony, Nash leans over and opens his mouth, full of Doritos, over the six-year-old’s head. 

The orange mush lands on the crown of Lizzy’s head and she jerks at the sensation. She turns, bringing a hand up to feel her head, before shrieking when she realizes what must have happened.

“Nash!” Rachel scolds.

By the time Nash’s third birthday nears, both sets of parents are out of ideas. They’ve tried everything to get their kids to get along. Blaine and Kurt are blue in the face from the amount of talks they’ve had with Lizzy that always end in her fruitless agreement. They’ve tried timeouts, removal of property/privilege, and even, during a time of real desperation, bribery.

It gets so bad that the two families start decreasing the time they spend together. They go from meeting once a week, at least, to maybe once a month. It makes them sad but they just can’t seem to figure out how to make their kids like each other and their get-togethers are more stressful than not.

A couple of weeks before Nash turns three, the families go to the park together. They’ve discovered that not having the kids in a confined space lessens the arguments (which are epic despite the four year age difference. It’s like Nash’s dislike of Lizzy has overdeveloped his argument vocabulary).

Kurt, Blaine, Rachel, and Jesse are sitting on a bench as their children play: Lizzy is on the monkey bars and Nash and Matty are in the sandbox. The foursome have, unspokenly but mutually, decided that the fight between their children is a non-topic and they are actually really enjoying catching up.

Blaine notices it first as Lizzy jumps off the monkey bars and makes her way to the sandbox. He hits Kurt to get his attention and soon all four parents are watching, tensely, as Lizzy stands at the edge of the box.

They watch as Lizzy looks between Matty and Nash a few times before she shrugs and sits between them. The seven-year-old picks up a shovel and scoops a heaping pile of sand onto it. Both Matty and Nash are holding buckets but it’s Nash she turns to. She wordlessly offers the pile to him and he looks at her for a second before holding out his bucket to her.

She smiles at him and lets the sand in her shovel pour slowly into his bucket. He smiles back before going back to dumping sand into the bucket himself. 

For the next ten minutes, the parents look on in awe as Lizzy, Matty, and Nash play pleasantly in the sandbox together - not a single bad thing happens.

And from then on things between the Anderson-Hummels and the St. James’ settle down. There is no evidence of past animosity as Lizzy treats both Matty and Nash like her little brothers and Nash takes to Lizzy like they had always hoped he would.

Kurt and Blaine are tucking Lizzy into bed one night, a few months later, when Kurt mentions as casually as he can, “Hey, love, Daddy and I have noticed you’ve been playing with Nash a lot more lately.” Lizzy nods, “That’s awesome,” He praises, “but we were just wondering what changed. You weren’t his biggest fan for a long time.”

Lizzy shrugs as she snuggles into bed, “He’s not so bad. I didn’t want to fight with him anymore. I have bigger problems to deal with now anyway.” She says.

Blaine’s eyes widen, “What bigger problems are those?” He asks.

Lizzy sighs, “Meghan in my class likes Nolan but *I* like Nolan.” She explains.

Kurt and Blaine stare at their daughter for a second before they turn to each other with wide, panicked eyes. This is the first time Lizzy has mentioned anything like this. They figured drama like this would be years away. They can’t help but wonder if they wouldn’t prefer her to go back to squabbling with her pseudo-cousin…


End file.
